Matale City
Matale, Sri Lanka, is renowned for its lush vegetation and spice gardens. Located in the central province, it offers a rich cultural experience with cooking classes and demonstrations. Visitors can learn traditional recipes and techniques, such as clay pot cooking, and enjoy dishes like chicken curry and dhal curry, making Matale a culinary and cultural treasure.
Dambulu Somavathi-Komplex
Die Stätte liegt etwas hinter dem bekannteren Dambulla Rangiri Raja Maha Viharaya , neben dem Sri Valagamba Pirivena, und ist dem üblichen Pilger und Touristen in Dambulla relativ unbekannt.
Hier wird die Somawathi Chaithiya, die der Königin von König Valagamba gewidmet ist, noch immer wieder aufgebaut. Ihr riesiger Ziegelsteinkomplex ragt unvollendet in den blauen Himmel. Um ihn herum sind ein alter „Siri Pathula“-Stein und einige Altarplatten ausgestellt.
Interessant ist, dass der alte Weg zum Höhlentempel von Dambulla von hier ausgeht. Der „Raja Mawatha“ genannte Weg umfasst eine Reihe in den Felsen gehauener Steinstufen. In diesen Felsen sind Stufen gehauen, die einst von den Königen bestiegen wurden, um die darüber liegenden Höhlenschreine von Dambulla zu besuchen. An den Seiten dieser Felsstufen wurden kurze Aufzeichnungen gefunden, von denen einige von alten Königen stammen. Eine dieser entzifferten Aufzeichnungen besagt, dass der „Herr der Menschen“, König Kutakanna Abhaya (41–19 v. Chr.), für den Bau von dreizehn Stufen dieser Treppe verantwortlich war.
About Central Province
The Central Province of Sri Lanka consists primarily of mountainous terrain. The province has an area of 5,674 km², and a population of 2,421,148. Some major towns include Kandy, Gampola (24,730), Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela. The population is a mixture of Sinhalese, Tamil and the Moors.
Both the hill capital Kandy and the city of Nuwara Eliya are located within the Central Province as well as Sri Pada. The province produces much of the famous Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Kandy, Gampola, Hatton and Nuwara Eliya. Temple tooth or Dalada maligawa is the main sacred place in Centrel province.
The climate is cool, and many areas about 1500 meters often have chilly nights. The western slopes are very wet, some places having almost 7000 mm of rain per year. The eastern slopes are parts of the mid-dry zone as it is receiving rain only from North-Eastern monsoon. The Temperatures range from 24°C at Kandy to just 16°C in Nuwara Eliya, which is located 1,889 m above sea level. The highest mountains in Sri Lanka are located in the Central Province. The terrain is mostly mountainous, with deep valleys cutting into it. The two main mountain regions are the central massif and the Knuckles range to the east of Kandy.